Educational Books


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Educational Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Educational
Pray & Play Bible for Young Children
Published in Hardcover by Group Publishing (1997-06)
Author: Group Publishing
List price: $16.99
New price: $12.92
Used price: $12.58

Average review score:

A Must Have
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-10
The pray and Play Bible has a great lessons for preschool age children. All of these lessons can be used in whole or in part. Great resource for anyone in christian education.

An Amazing Resource
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-17
The art is fabulous. The Bible stories are entertaining and age appropriate for preschoolers. The songs, games, prayers, and activities that go along with the Bible stories make it so easy to have a lesson that engages every preschooler in REAL learning. I am so thankful that I have this amazing resource because I use it all the time.

A Perfect Resource for Substitutes!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-28
This is a preschool Sunday School leader's dream resource for those days when you need a little something extra. It is also PERFECT for a substitute leader! The bright, colorful pictures totally capture the children's attention and each story is followed with many easy to learn songs, prayers and lessons that anyone could lead at the spur of the moment. The activities are very interactive and designed specifically with preschoolers in mind.

We are excited about this purchase!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-12
Our Play and Pray Bible arrived today, and we are already enjoying it very much! The large size of the book is appealing, as are the brightly colored illustrations. There are activities to extend each Bible story, and we have been singing lots of the songs tonight. (These are sung to familiar children's tunes, and they caught my daughter's attention right away.) I also teach 4-year-olds in a Christian preschool, and I teach 3's and 4's in Sunday School - I'm looking forward to using this book in those settings, as well as at home!

Excellent
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-22
I liked this so well I bought the second one (Pray and Play Bible 2).
I am a Sunday school teacher for young children and was looking for stories that kept the children's interest. So often the Bible story books say they're for young children, but are either over their head or very boring.
I also bought this for my 3 yr old niece and it's one of her favorite books.
A quality product I don't think you will be disappointed with.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, at the end of the stories are suggested songs and activities that are very do-able.

Educational
Silver Chief, dog of the north,
Published in Unknown Binding by J.C. Winston Co (1933)
Author: Jack O'Brien
List price:
Used price: $3.56
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

My Favorite Book from My Youth
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-14
I read this book several times when I was young. I loved it then and my son has read this a couple times in recent years. I have all four books in the series. The description of his life on the trail, taking care of the sled dogs, and even the food he ate while on the trail were all exciting to me. The book starts out about Silver Chief's mother, before the Chief was born. I had forgotten about that part. This is a great book. Another book I liked regarding the outdoors, which also had great detail, was My Side of the Mountain.

Review of Silver Chief
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-16
I read this book as a young girl and now at the age of 60 I enjoyed it just as much. I read it to my four kids when they were in the 5th grade and they loved it as well. Now my daughter who is a high school teacher is using a copy of the book in her classroom for her students to read.

A family Tradition
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-19
My dad read this book as a boy in the 1950s. He introduced the Silver Chief books to me and I read and reread them as a young preteen. I have since read them to several children who also couldn't get enough of them. Silver Chief is a beautiful silver animal part dog and part wolf. A Royal Candian Mounted Policeman named Sar. Thornton heads north to track a murderer. While waiting to track down the murderer, Thornton captures and tames Silver Chief training him into a loving companion and loyal friend. When the Murderer wounds Thornton in the leg, it is up to Silver Chief to see that they arrive safely back to civilization.

Great Children's Book
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-13
I read this book in elementary school, after stumbling across it while browsing through the school library. It's such a great story and even though it's for youngsters, I wouldn't mind re-reading it now as an adult, just for the memories of the brave wild dog's adventures.

Silver Chief, Dog of the North
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2002-02-28
I read the Silver Chief stories as a grade school kid back in the 50's and even today just hearing the name conjurs up memories and pictures in my head of "the Great White North," the Canadian Mounties and the moving story of the bond between a man and a wild dog. I had a heck of a time finding a copy to read to my three boys -- the [Local] Public Library had relegated it to storage in a warehouse. How unfortunate that so many wonderful children's titles have been lost or forgotten. I'm glad to see this one is still available to another generation of readers -- the romance, adventure and genuine feeling of this story remain timeless!

Educational
301 Do-It-Yourself Marketing Ideas: From America's Most Innovative Small Companies
Published in Paperback by South-Western Educational Publishing (1997-08-01)
Author:
List price: $20.95
Used price: $0.47

Average review score:

Nice Approach to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-14
If you want a book that doesn't try to teach you how to become a Marketing professional, but offers a tremendous number of ideas on how to think about improving your business this book is for you. Sam Decker has put together a very easy to read book that will get your Marketing creative juices flowing, even if you haven't ever studied marketing.

Marketing That Never Goes Out of Style.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-02-23
This book provides what most business and marketing books lack. It tells you HOW to incorporate real, practical, and useful ideas for marketing your business into your everyday operations. I have had this book since 1999 and I refer to it over and over again. Excellent book!

You can not find a better idea marketing book
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-24
If you do not file 20 or even a few more or a whole lot of ideas to bring profit to your business with this book, you never will.
You will find strange and wonderful ways and places to advertise with the ideas in this book:

49 techiques for inproving sales
48 Marketing ideas using new technology
60 Inventive ways to outperform the competition
57 unique tactics for direct marketing and distribution
31 tips for creating effective collateral
33 strategies for building your customer base

And an Introduction by none other than Jay Conrad Levison, The Guerrilla Marketing Genius.

Buy it! Do it Now!

Spark a thought!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2001-07-06
This is a great book to get you thinking about all the possibilities that are available to you. It was exactly what I was looking for. As a small business owner, I am always looking for more ideas.

Gave me more ideas than any I've read!
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-29
This is BY FAR the best book I've read of marketing ideas. It contains not just the "ideas", but also actual case histories of the ideas and WHY they worked for that particular company. I have 4 solid pages of notes from this book of things I'd like to try....both for the home-based business I'm starting and for the marketing communications company I work for. Other books I've read (and there have been a lot) are too general and are not creative enough. There are dozens and dozens of ways to market, and this is the only book I've read that explores ideas that are off the beaten path (and work because of that). Examples: pay others in complimentary businesses a finder's fee to give you business; sponsor association site (offer discount to members); have defunct company's phone message refer customers to your business (with you paying balance of Yellow Pages fee in return). Just a sample of the simple but effective ideas found in this book.

Educational
301 Polish Verbs (Barron's)
Published in Paperback by Barron's Educational Series (2000-02-01)
Author: Klara Janecki
List price: $16.99
New price: $10.38
Used price: $9.79

Average review score:

It's like a verb-stuffed pierogi...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-25
Another reviewer describes this book as, "thorough". That is an understatement!

If you want to know the intricate details of Polish verbs and the conjugations of the most common, look no further. In fact, it is so thorough at times, it can be intimidating, especially if you are learning the language outside a classroom setting.

For example, the frequentive aspect is treated for appropriate verbs despite the admission that, "The frequentive aspect is hardly ever used now." Jumping from Germanic to Slavic languages was tough enough for me, without having to ignore seldom used aspects of the language which appear alongside the parts I want/need to focus on.

Great
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-26
Is a great reference for anyone who wishes to speak Polish. Provides detailed conjugations and tenses. Overall awesome.

Great for Poles, Too!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-14
My Polish teacher had me order several of these books for her other students after she saw my verb book. Apparently, a book of similar quality and scope does not even exist in Poland, or at least she didn't know of one that was so clear and easy to use. I'm still a beginner, so I'm only using present tense. But the index is great, as it has both English and Polish verbs indexed. Perhaps the book could be a bit smaller, and for some verbs (such as wiesic, i think (wiem, wiesz, wie, etc.) these are not clearly conjugated in the main section. Still, this book is a necessary supplement to my Polish textbook and lessons.

I guess the only thing that might improve this is a CD-ROM!

Useful resource, excellent improvement over previous edition
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-09
I bought 301 Polish Verbs to supplement an intensive beginning Polish course, and I am very pleased with this book. The verb charts are quite helpful, and I transferred many of them to flashcards to help me study.
The crucial difference between 301 Polish Verbs and its predecessor, 201 Polish Verbs, is that (in addition to the extra 100 verbs) 301 Polish Verbs includes a long introduction that includes solid yet brief explanations of the grammar not only of verbs but also of the different cases that the verbs take.
The verbs are grouped into verb groups that are all listed under the same single heading verb. The perfective and imperfective form of the verb, as well as other related verbs with the same verb "root", are all listed on a single page. This grouping is helpful for learning that all these verbs are related and their tenses work the same way. However, the groupings can make it difficult to look up a particular Polish verb, as the verbs are listed alphabetically by the heading verb, and one must check multiple indexes to find out which heading verb it is listed under.
The example sentences at the bottom of each page are very helpful to illustrate the usage of the different verbs in context and to "see" how the verbs take different objects in different cases. However, I would have liked there to be more example sentences--some verbs (though not "heading" verbs) do not even have a single example sentence.

GREAT BOOK!
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2001-10-09
THIS IS A WONDERFUL BOOK FOR HELP ON CONJUGATION OF POLISH VERBS. EVRYTHING YOU COULD WANT TO KNOW IS IN THIS BOOK. THE SEMI-LARGE PRINT IS ALSO A VERY NICE FEATURE. IT IS EASY TO READ AND THERE IS NO CONFUSION BETWEEN LETTERS THAT CAN LOOK ALIKE. 301 POLISH VERBS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Educational
Abe Lincolns Hat
Published in Paperback by Scholastic Educational (1995-10)
Author: Martha Brenner
List price: $3.99
New price: $0.01
Used price: $0.01

Average review score:

Loved it when I was a child!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-25
This was one of my favorite books when I was a child. I read it over and over again and I really enjoyed the illustrations.

A Good Reader
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-23
As a reader, this is a good product. While it may perpetuate some popular myths or stereotypes about Lincoln (big hat, black clothes, simple but wise gentle-man) - so what? More truth than fiction. In that, this little reader does the valuable services of endearing another generation to our greatest President.

Great for younger children
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-10
I find this a very good book to use with my first graders in learning something about Abe Lincoln. The pictures are good and the anctedotes relate to the children.

Hat As File Cabinet
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-01
This is a "Step 3" reader in the "Step Into Reading" program. This is a good book that introduces young readers to American history, specifically to Abe Lincoln. We learn that Lincoln's iconic hat was more than simply an item of apparel -- it also served as a "file cabinet" for important papers and letters.

Fun History Lesson
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-10
I read this book to my pre-K class, who just loved it. Learning about Lincoln's hat habit along with the other significant things in his life was great. It made the kids listen to the entire book (hard for some 4 and 5 year-olds). I even had one boy show up the next day with notes in his hat!! My 7-year-old son loves the book too.

Educational
Activities That Teach
Published in Paperback by Educational Media Corporation (2001-01)
Author: Tom Jackson
List price: $15.95
New price: $24.50
Used price: $11.94

Average review score:

Great group training
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-03
This book provides me with many leadership building activities to use in my classes at school. The various activities teach communication skills and goal setting,along with games that encourage making good and healthy choices. Marvelous resource for sponsors and teachers who emphasize being good role models!

Fabulous!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-04
I am a teacher in an alternative high school and was fortunate enough to meet Tom Jackson in person at a conference just a few weeks ago. He did many of his "lessons" with us and they were fabulous. I went and bought all of his books and now can't wait for the school year to start so I can use his lessons on my students!

Thought Provoking Activities
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-10
Activities that teach has worked very well for us. We use the activities in our 4-H Club. Members age range is between 9 and 18. This book has provided activities that promote thought and sportsmanship. The members have enjoyed working through the activities.

Attention teachers!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-09-04
This book is awesome for teachers!! I am a Home Ec. teacher for Middle School and I use at least one of these activities per day! It's great for all grades and can be simplified if needed.

Hands on learning that is fun & easy
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-05
I use this book teaching Health to grades 6-8. It contains a variety of activities that are great supplements to units for social isssues, decision making, alcohol, smoking, drugs & more. Most of the hands on activities involve every student in the class, so they really remember the message!. Discussion questions are listed after each lesson. I started using this book by borrowing it from another teacher, now I've got my own copy.

Educational
Big Bulletin Boards: A Cooperative Approach
Published in Paperback by Hide and Seek Press (2002-04)
Author: Karen Robbins
List price: $14.95
New price: $11.90
Used price: $9.45

Average review score:

Big Bulletin Boards: A Cooperative Approach
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-29
Lots of ideas for putting kids names on the board. Kids seem to enjoy seeing their name "up in lights" and this book has great ideas for that.

A "Must Have" for a Teacher's Library
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2001-09-24
Now and then, you have to invest in a book that pays big dividends in time and creative energy for you, as a teacher.
Karen Robbins has given us just such a book -- generously sharing nearly a hundred pages of bulletin board ideas for all the months of the year, including summer! We know that learning takes place best when we get children involved with all their senses -- what I especially like about this book is the "cooperative" in the title, because from now on bulletin boards will not be a teacher chore, but a child's delight! Thank You for this guide for those of us who are less artistically inclined!

Great resource for new and experienced teachers!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-02-04
A book obviously written by a teacher. Ideas are clear for students to understand and assemble. One page directions with materials easy to find and prepare. Workable plans for huge displays that engage all students. Projects celebrate creativity at all abilities and provide students with art lessons that enhance seasonal themes. Extremely useful for the classroom teacher with artistic limits, that wants to introduce students to a variety of art media.

Cute and Fun!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2001-08-21
I LOVE this book! I used it all last year and my colleagues were always exclaiming over our finished projects. The ideas matched a lot of my theme units. And each page comes with a great illustration for those of us who are visual learners. The best part is that the teacher has a very small role in the making of classroom displays (other than pinning student's creations to the wall). The students have complete artistic control!

4 Years of Bulletin Boards By Kids and For Kids!
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2001-12-03
As an elementary teacher, I believed that bulletin boards should be made by my students and not me! I wrote Big Bulletin Boards with this concept in mind. Most of the boards within my book have been successfully constructed by students. Children will be introduced to 23 different forms of art mediums; while developing creativity and building self esteem. The boards are quick, easy, fun and creative for both boys and girls. What a wonderful way to teach cooperative learning! Big Bulletin Boards: A Cooperative Approach was previously published by Prentice-Hall, Inc. selling over 16,000 copies. I revised the book and released the Second Edition in 2001 under Hide and Seek Press. I hope you have fun making BIG bulletin boards with your students! I sure did and they became the "talk of the school."! *Note: This is a great book especially for beginning teachers, preschool/elementary teachers or librarians.

Educational
Crossroads: 1969
Published in Paperback by Inkwater Press (2005-10-14)
Author: John, W Cassell
List price: $25.95
New price: $16.27
Used price: $16.00
Collectible price: $26.00

Average review score:

Where do I begin?
Helpful Votes: 12 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-10
There is so much to say that I will have to force myself to be brief.

I tend to speed read my way through books but Crossroads 1969 demanded my time and I was glad to give it. This is the type of book that should be read more widely and maybe, through more exposure for the author in Amazon Shorts, it will be. Reading it reminded me that there are probably more John Cassells out there who, with one simple break, could be acknowledged as some of the great writers of our time.

John Cassell describes Crossroads as 'based on a true story' and his decriptions of people and events are so real, so 'in the moment', that he most certainly must have experienced them first hand. That said, it is one thing to experience a person or event and quite another to put it down on paper in a manner that gives the reader a sense of having watched it happen. That is Mr. Cassell's true gift. The people who populate the pages of Crossroads, from the drunk singing his own interpretation of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling", to the centred and sensible Marcie, to the the bribable Spanish customs official, are so well described that I felt like I had just watched a movie instead of reading a book.

I am grateful to Amazon Shorts for providing a forum for my short stories but I am equally grateful that being there allowed me to make the acquaintance of John and other fine writers. Without the Shorts program, Crossroads 1969 would never have found me and I would have missed something truly worth the reading.

Brother John, I kid you not when I say that this is a wonderful book. Well done and five stars!

Kindling From Monkish Ecstasy. Seeds of a Saga. Future Classics in Literature.
Helpful Votes: 14 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-18
>> I'd already begun the battle to secure a berth for myself in a seminary at Berkeley, having submitted the necessary applications and labored over the essay which was supposed to explain in detail why I wanted to become an Anglican priest. All my friends and family had their own ideas on the subject, ranging from the worst reasons to the best. Mine, I am afraid, would have probably surprised them all and could never have been included in the essay. In truth, I was looking for a dream world to inhabit, a small country parish in the west of England where I could write scholarly theological works, drink scotch, and go prematurely senile minding a turnip garden. <<

For me, there's no substitute for reading a passage of the author's own words, to get a sense of whether you'd want to read a book. For that reason, I often quote a passage from the book I'm reviewing, isolating a segment which exposes some of the most compelling or life-filled word usage. One of the many possible prime quotes of John W. Cassell's syntax in CROSSROADS: 1969, the above passage gives a feel for this author's rich, clear voice. That quote can be found in both CR: 69 and SOLDIER OF AQUARIUS.

When I read that passage, I was already pulling for this warm, intelligent, spirited young man to succeed in living in that dream world, even though I feared that reality of pure scholarly theology might not even exist within the darkened political arenas of religious sanctuaries, except in a few very isolated, monkish cases. I wanted that world to exist, if only for John Cassell to be able to cloister himself into that dreamed type of sacred luxury of religious ecstasy and intrigue.

But, as the novel's plot developed and I saw how John was blocked from entry into that dream world, it was too clear that another world and path awaited this young man's footprints. It didn't take long before the author Cassell's words immersed the reader into subcultures of different paths and possibilities, each disallowed or road-forked-way for various reasons. Each time I fully shared John's disappointments, as I admired his ways of moving ever onward into whatever experiences he lived, through nightmares and joys, catastrophes and raptures, empty spaces and intrigues.

One thing John's life and his books do not provide is any whiff or hint of boredom. Enthrallment is in there, for keeps!

In this case, the enthrallment was not only through a philosophical journey with fascinating directional changes (as intriguing as those in the Tin Man's Quantum Leap out of the Kansas of his heroine's childhood); it's the most unusual travelogue you'll ever read on a USA citizen touring Europe and North Africa in more intimate ways than possible through friends who "live there"... and with less (almost equal) means than it would take to buy a Kindle Reader. Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device (John's novels are available through Kindle, too.)

I recommend taking the journeys through Cassell's novels, either in physical book form, and/or through Kindle. Eventually, I'll own both/all forms of this pioneering author's works now forming their place within The Classic Literature of the Next Age.

CROSSROADS: 1969 may be my favorite of JWC's novels listed below, though now that SOLDIER OF AQUARIUS: 1969-1970 is out, that would be my favorite of those two, because that is where this saga of a series is seeded, and because my blurb is included in the opening quotes from, "What other writers are saying about John W. Cassell."

There are a few logical ways to approach a step into reading the sequential counterculture novels of John W. Cassell:

-- One is to begin with CROSSROADS: 1969 (published 2005) and follow that with AN AQUARIAN TRAGEDY: 1970 (published 2006 under pseudonym James Mundell). An Aquarian Tragedy

-- Another is to begin with SOLDIER OF AQUARIUS (published November, 2007) Soldier of Aquarius: 1969-1970 SoA is a compilation of the two above novels; the two component novels were formatted for each other in their original united state.

After reading the pair of books (CR & AAT) or the original manuscript which had both of those novels in one (SoA), the road fork would offer:

-- ODYSSEY: 1970 Odyssey: 1970

That novel gives a brief summary of CR, then covers the plot of AAT with a few chapters added to extend the protagonist's experiences through the whole year of '70, the effect of which broadens the view (through the expanded time structure and interjected research of major, news-breaking events) of what Cassell calls the Counterculture movement, with its multi-angle-motivations (realistically exposing dark and bright). Whereas CR & AAT focus on an individual's personal perspective of how he reacted to and worked within and through those timeframes; ODYSSEY presents a broader cultural perspective, looking outward into the world as well as inward into the psychological, sociological impositions and enhancements of the same individual.

The author's suggestion is to read CR:69 + Odyssey:1970... or S of A.

Then, the sequence would be as follows:

-- HELL'S QUEST: 1971 Hell's Quest: 1971

This novel continues from the base of either of the above alternatives, through the same protagonist, based on the author himself. In HQ, however, the author adds extensive (and fascinating) fictionalized elements to some of his biographical base, whereas the other novels listed above are based strongly on autobiographical realities.

-- DEVILLIER'S COUNTRY BLUES: 1972 DeVilliers County Blues: 1972

This novel continues where HQ leaves off, including the addition of fictionalized elements into a biographical basis, with the balance of fiction continuing to increase.

-- UNCERTAIN PARADISE: 1973: Part 1 (Release scheduled for late December, 2007)

This novel continues where DCB leaves off, with the balance of fiction again increasing. This novel is a satisfying read in itself, even if Part 2 does not materialize. However, you will be wanting more of JWC's novels, no matter what books you read first.

Take time to visit our discussion forum in the Amazon Shorts category, "A toast to John Cassell's novel, "HELL'S QUEST: 1971, an ongoing commentary."

That forum title has evolved well beyond a seminar on writing within a successful story format, for short pieces, novels, or sequencing sagas; yet in its evolution that forum has remained carefully focused on highly informative concepts related to writing while using Cassell's works as the baseline for comment. If you're at all interested in an X-ray view of "authorship-in-progress" or completion of Nobel Prize worthy literature, you'll feel satisfied with what you'll find there. Maybe the best part is that many of those contributing to that forum are still alive and writing... though a few quickened characters, ghosts, and poltergeists did and do apply!

From your friendly, local (on Amazon) parapsychologist,
Linda G. Shelnutt
Morning Comes: the Pre Dawn Blues - Part 1

Review of John W. Cassell's "Crossroads: 1969"
Helpful Votes: 15 out of 15 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-10
Review of John W. Cassell's "Crossroads: 1969" (Once, We Were Young) - By Jack Engelhard

John W. Cassell traveled to Europe in search of America and to understand this it helps to be a Child of the 60s -though in a sense we are all Children of the 60s since the art, the music, the literature and even the politics of that era, all of it is still very much alive. In "Crossroads: 1969," Cassell' uses a bio-novel technique to recover the past - the second half the 1960s and into the 1970s - and the result is a masterful rendering of an era.

In trying to find America, through the backroads and the highways of Europe, Cassell was obviously trying to find himself as well, and this no one ever achieves, something nearing perfection, but it's the pursuit itself that makes for an exhilarating adventure; in this case, Cassell's adventure, wherein he introduces us to new landscapes and new people, and we never know, until we turn the page, who might be waiting for him around the next corner.

Cassell writes it straight and his most noticeable skill is in his ability to take us with him wherever he goes. We're with him when a friend turns into an enemy and we're with him when strangers turn into friends and we're with him when at any moment he could be arrested by the French police or the Spanish police - or the dreaded ESTABLISHMENT.

We understand his shyness toward women at a time when women were getting bolder. This took some of us off stride.

This is all about being young and the 1960s were about many things, but mostly about being young. America, during that period, was going through the symptoms of birthing, or rather, renewal. America was trying to figure out exactly what kind of nation it wanted to be. Therefore, there was that, the Establishment, and then there was the counterculture.

Like so many of us, Cassell found himself caught in the middle. Lucky for us that he turned to writing to share the excitement of a nation and a man still unfinished.

The adventure continues.

Today, the lines are much more clear-cut. You're left or you're right. Back then, we were still trying to make up our minds.

The 1960s were the defining decade of a generation. But which America was the correct one for us?

Cassell doesn't lecture or pontificate. He only observes and lets us, his readers, arrive at the conclusions. That's what we call good writing, and as so often happens in this bio-novel - great writing. There are so many nuggets to choose from here, but Cassell pretty much puts his finger on what the 1960s were all about when he writes: "The future was certainly ours - there was nothing but time. Yet there was not a moment to lose."

What a beautiful snapshot! Yes, we knew that at this moment the decade belonged to us, we were all in revolt, and yet we recognized that at any moment it could all be over. Vietnam was happening, after all, and the cities were burning, and everybody, it seemed, had issues, so we knew that it could not last. How long could we continue to protest when at some point we'd actually have to raise a family and earn a living? We'd have to cut our hair and most likely join a corporation - the Establishment.

One day we would have to grow up.

Cassell did grow up and what an incredible bio he developed over the years, much too long and storied to repeat here, except to note that out of all that, he enlisted in the United States Air Force, served as a New Mexico State Trooper, and also served as a district attorney - but that only touches on his many achievements.

His greatest achievement, though, as far as this reviewer is concerned, is in reminding us that once upon a time we were young. Once upon a time everything was possible.

Maybe such a time will come round again.

Bravo, John W. Cassell!

Jack Engelhard's latest novel, "The Bathsheba Deadline," is now available in paperback. Engelhard wrote the international bestselling novel "Indecent Proposal."


Extraordinary Talent
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-08
John W. Cassell is an author of extraordinary talent. His descriptive style, wit and smooth prose take you along on his journey, which is not only interesting, but captures the imagination and takes one to boundless territories.

If you never read any of John W. Cassell's work, you have missed more than just a little. You have missed adventure, excitement, romance, and wonderful trips, journeys, where you feel, almost believe, you are there with him sharing his sometimes wild, sometimes hair-raising, and often just plain fun adventures. Definitely five stars for this very, very talented writer.

A Man in Search of Himself
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-06
John's story begins in his teens, and probably long before, where he is searching for something better than what he is accustomed. Disillusioned and with a certain sense of emptiness, he decides to embark upon that quest. He doesn't want to consider graduate school, as is strongly suggested. Instead, he wants to travel to Europe and soon has a passport. However, John and his friend Chris work for several months, while John is saving up money for his journey.

Following months of hard labor, John finally finds himself on his mother's porch, saying goodbye to his mother and brother, Barry. Mixed with the excitement of what may lie ahead, is fear and apprehension. Still, this is something he has to do.

In England, John is stunned when he learns that his acceptance into King's College, London was a mistake. It had been believed that it was his brother Barry who had applied. Once more, John feels the pain of humiliation from his childhhod that he'd fought against for years to overcome.

John enjoys the wonderful meals of England, but when he travels to France, he finds the bread really good and the coffee very bitter. And he finds he has difficulty chewing the delicious bread and believes it is a molar problem, but later comes to realize it is much more serious.

John makes many friends, some strange, some mysterious and some really close, male and female alike. He travels a good deal by bicycle, often taking daring chances, entering tunnels where he could find himself approaching head-on with a car or truck. Picking apples from orchards in France and nearly getting killed, along with his French friend, who is something of an enigma, but he doesn't remain that way for long. John soon gets one of the biggest surprises of his life.

In Spain, John finds the people a little warmer and friendlier than some he has encountered on his trek, and his knowledge of Spanish is a definite plus, not only for himself, but for friends he makes along the way. However, he realizes that he must return home, one of the main reasons being his health.

At one point, he ends up getting arrested due to a misunderstanding. He realizes that no one who ever cared about him even knows what continent he is on. In this hell of a prison, he is beaten and bruised and receives a rifle jabbed at shoulder length into his spine. Then, just when he believes he is at death's door, he is suddenly assisted in cleaning up and finds himself a free man once more. But, for how long, he is not sure. He realizes though, that in spite of everything that has transpired, he has met some kind people.

At last, he turns back for home and finds himself at Victoria Station in London, England, anticipating a previously arranged meeting with Marcie, a young woman he met earlier on. He loses grip with himself on a train, and the conductor brings a Doctor Cordova in to check him out. Doctor Cordova proves to be a kind and sympathetic person. This is where it is discovered that John may have a very serious infection in his mouth, but the doctor, though very concerned, has no antibiotics. He makes John promise to get the problem taken care of as soon as possible. John manages to connect back with Marcie and soon makes his way back home, but he is a changed man, much wiser and more appreciative of what he has.

This is only a bare sketch, if you will, a short synopsis of a great - and I emphasize great - book. A journey of a young man. A must read! It is educational, entertaining, gripping, riveting, sometimes frightening and definitely inspiring. No less than five stars. There should be ten!

Educational
Dictionary of Accounting Terms
Published in Paperback by Barron's Educational Series (2000-10)
Authors: Joel G. Siegel and Jae K. Shim
List price: $13.95
New price: $11.74
Used price: $0.04

Average review score:

Very good choice of words
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-12
This book is very intelligently written and organized. The definitions are skillfully worded to be precise, succinct and immediately comprehensible. It's actually a joy to meander through the book following the cross references to build up an expanding view of a topic. (Note: I'm fairly new to accounting). Very highly recommended, especially for the price.

Accounting Dictionary
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-17
I needed something at work to look up certain words as I come across them. of course this book was perfect. I enjoy having it by my side, just to make sure I know what I'm dealing with and have an understanding of what I am doing. I def. recommend for all you accountants/auditors out there.

Excellent
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-13
This book arrived in perfect condition and within a few days. I am very pleased with my purchase.

Great Buy +
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-01
This dictionary has it all + simplified examples. Bottom line, if you think it you'll find it.

This book is contagious!!!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-10
This little book puts almost everything at your fingertips: formulas, examples, abbreviations, acronyms, not just definitions. A must have for any accountant or anyone studying the subject. I showed this to my old accounting professor and he wished this was his.

Educational
Different Minds: Gifted Children With Ad/Hd, Asperger Syndrome, and Other Learning Deficits
Published in Paperback by Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2004-02)
Author: Deirdre V. Lovecky
List price: $24.95
New price: $21.21
Used price: $21.21

Average review score:

A MUST READ FOR PARENTS OF GIFTED KIDS WITH ADHD OR ASPERGER'S
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-19
If you are a parent, or teacher/therapist/service provider, to a gifted child with ADHD or Asperger's, this is the best book around. I am puzzled by the reviews that say this is academic in tone - I actually thought it was a tremendously effective and accessible compendium of the seminal research in the field. Dr. Lovecky makes two big, valuable contributions in this book - she documents what we know, empirically, about ADHD and Asperger's kids with high IQs (the focus of much research and treatment is based on the average IQ population, and is not always helpful or appropriate to understanding and working with gifted kids), and she offers many concrete strategies for helping these "twice gifted" children at home and at school to develop strategies for problem solving, social skills development, etc. As a mom of a recently diagnosed, and long misunderstood, gifted son facing extreme executive function challenges, this book made me understand my son better and helped give me some insight into how I can better support him as a parent. I am giving copies to my family members to help them support him as well! THIS IS A FANTASTIC BOOK WORTH TWICE THE PRICE!!!! Thank you Dr. Lovecky for writing it.

Finally! Excellent book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-28
I have been reading book after book trying to figure out what is going on with my son, and I've finally found it! I had so many "a-ha" moments while reading Different Minds. Even the title speaks to me!

This book not only discusses the issue of twice-exceptionality (a new concept to me), it goes into great detail about characteristics of children with different exceptionality combinations. For example, ADHD is not lumped into one description...gifted kids with ADHD, inattentive-type are differentiated from gifted kids with ADHD, combined-type, based on the fact that their thought patterns, behaviors, and emotional reactions to situation can be markedly different. As an example, there is a paragraph that clearly describes why gifted kids have higher levels of anxiety, and how (in our case) inattentive-type ADHD can cause that anxiety to be even higher due to over-focus.

Another of the great things about Different Minds is that it gives very specific ideas on how to handle these issues. I needed practical, hands-on tools that I can use to help encourage, support and motivate, as well as cope with, my twice-exceptional son. I got some great ideas from this text that were very specific to our situation. The book discusses, as an example, how a behavior management technique that works with a boy with inattentive-type ADHD may not work with a girl with the same combination of issues. The specifics in this book are fantastic.

Also included are discussions of learning styles, which lead to several "a-ha" moments regarding my own personal learning style and that of those I interact with. I believe this can be invaluable in terms of learning to motivate people, both children and adults. This has helped us refine our home/bedroom organization system, as we are all visual-spatial and thus need to see our "stuff."

All this being said, the most important thing, for me, about this book is that after reading it, I did not feel so alone! I finally found a book that "gets" my child and makes him sound normal, at least for a twice-exceptional child!!

Best Book You Can Buy on ADHD, Aspergers, Giftedness
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-09
Through the years, I've bought countless books on the separate problems of ADHD, Aspergers, giftedness and learning deficits. This book was a GREAT relief because it really gave me all the practical information and more that I could possibly want to know on these subjects. Plus, it was enlightening. I'm highlighting pages and finding out things about myself, my husband AND my boy who is ADHD, Aspergers, gifted and has CAPD (auditory processing problems). I personally feel they are all somewhat related, and you don't get true giftedness without some other problems. I disagree with a previous reviewer who thought it was a book more for professionals. If you have a child with any of these problems, I'd recommend buyin this book and reading it thoroughly before going on and buying separate books on the subject.

Adds SO much to understanding of these children!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-22
Yes, Deidre Lovecky writes in an academic style. I appreciate books that don't talk down to parents, but allow us to share in the data the experts have developed without dumbing it down.

If you have a gifted child, know that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The chances are very good that you are gifted, too. If you truly have a need for the wonderful information in this book, I suspect you will have little difficulty absorbing the concepts that will help you help your child.

Having encouraged parents to boldly go and read this book, I must also comment that whatever you find here that should be acknowledged and coped with by your child's teachers, school administrators, or psychologist, can be easily communicated by getting them a copy with appropriate passages marked. The book IS written professionally and for the benefit of other professionals as well as parents.

I first met Dr. Lovecky 14 years ago, and I was impressed then with her insight and interest into children who were gifted and demonstrated difficulties such as ADHD, Asperger's, etc. Her depth of clinical experience and observation has enabled her to develop and share keen insights that will help any parent or professional recognize and help a gifted child with an added exceptionality.

More helpful for professionals than parents
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-29
This book was informative, but written in a tedious and academic style, like a textbook. I think it would be more useful as a reference for professionals than a guide for parents. In some respects my son would fall into one pigeon-hole, but in other traits he would fall into quite another. And it left me quite confused as to how to handle his difficulties. Many of the recommendations are oriented toward young children, but a teenager is a different matter entirely. It also ignores many of the other pressures on teenagers that are part of the equation. We're going to go to a therapist--hopefully he will be able to figure something out.


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